‘Little impact’ expected from amendments

By Zack McDonald / The News Herald

Published: Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 06:18 PM.

Amendment 9, which voters approved 62 percent to 38 percent, grants a full property tax exemption to the surviving spouses of military veterans who die while on active duty and to the surviving spouses of first responders who die in the line of duty. The amendment authorizes the Legislature to totally exempt or partially exempt the surviving spouse’s homestead property from ad valorem taxation.

“Again, we have no way of knowing who is applicable,” Sowell said. “I would not anticipate it amounting to a lot.”

Sowell said he currently knows of no applicants for the exemption and could only think of two examples in Bay County who would be eligible. Supporters of the legislation touted the tax break as a potential incentive to attract retirees.

Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, said Bay County would welcome the increase to the already large retired veteran population.

“Nothing is more flattering than having someone who’s been all over the world coming to Northwest Florida to retire,” Patronis said. “They’re paying full property tax on their homes and no kids in our school system.”

Patronis said the benefits brought to the area by retired military not only consist of disposable incomes but also an addition to cultural characteristics.

“They are going to be a stable community builder because of the structure of business they were doing the last 20 or 30 years,” Patronis said. “Florida has realized the military constituent is valuable in a number of ways. That is why we are so pro-military in Panama City. We realize it is a beautiful and diverse contribution to our community.”

PANAMA CITY — The three state constitutional amendments voters approved earlier this month will have a limited impact on local coffers, although the exact impact is not yet clear, local officials said.

“These three amendments are likely to have little impact on revenue of the respective taxing authorities,” said Dan Sowell, Bay County property appraiser.

Only three of the eight amendments on the ballot garnered 60 percent support of voters, the minimum necessary to pass. Amendment 2, which was approved by a margin of 63 percent to 37 percent, allows certain disabled veterans, who were not Florida residents prior to entering military service, to qualify for a discount on their property taxes. It is difficult to predict the number of people who will apply in the future who fit the criteria, according to Sowell.

“There’s obviously no way to know how many will apply, but right now there are 12 people on the role,” Sowell said. Even then the amount of the exemption is relative to the amount of disability received by military members.

“The amount of the reduction is based on amount of disability,” Sowell said. “That is a nominal effect to revenue.”

According to a Florida House of Representatives’ staff analysis, on average, the discount allowed those disabled vets to subtract $23,839 from their home’s value before property taxes were calculated.

Amendment 9, which voters approved 62 percent to 38 percent, grants a full property tax exemption to the surviving spouses of military veterans who die while on active duty and to the surviving spouses of first responders who die in the line of duty. The amendment authorizes the Legislature to totally exempt or partially exempt the surviving spouse’s homestead property from ad valorem taxation.

“Again, we have no way of knowing who is applicable,” Sowell said. “I would not anticipate it amounting to a lot.”

Sowell said he currently knows of no applicants for the exemption and could only think of two examples in Bay County who would be eligible. Supporters of the legislation touted the tax break as a potential incentive to attract retirees.

Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, said Bay County would welcome the increase to the already large retired veteran population.

“Nothing is more flattering than having someone who’s been all over the world coming to Northwest Florida to retire,” Patronis said. “They’re paying full property tax on their homes and no kids in our school system.”

Patronis said the benefits brought to the area by retired military not only consist of disposable incomes but also an addition to cultural characteristics.

“They are going to be a stable community builder because of the structure of business they were doing the last 20 or 30 years,” Patronis said. “Florida has realized the military constituent is valuable in a number of ways. That is why we are so pro-military in Panama City. We realize it is a beautiful and diverse contribution to our community.”

Amendment 11

Amendment 11 passed 61 percent to 39 percent. The amendment gives an additional property tax exemption to low-income seniors who have lived in their home for more than 25 years. The state estimates the combined tax revenues that schools and local governments would lose if every city and county in the state were to approve the exemption would be a combined $18.5 million over the first two years it was offered.

In Bay County, of the current 2,704 parcels of land under the current tax exemption, 809 qualify for the provision. The bulk of lost revenue due to the amendments would come from Amendment 11 provision, according to Sowell. The taxable value of the 809 parcels is $3.12 million.

The amount of reduction in revenue to Bay County, which has a millage rate of 3.65, would be $11,398 per year.

The taxing authorities with an ad valorem tax in the area are Panama City, Callaway, Lynn Haven, Mexico Beach and Bay County. According to Sowell, “it is up to taxing authorities on whether or not they would adopt it,” he said.

Implementation

“We have to do what is called ‘implementing bills,’ where it falls in the lap of local (governments) to work out fine details,” Patronis said. “The implementation has to be finished in around two years and work in the spirit of the constitutional amendment.”

Sowell said revenue to schools would not suffer from the void in ad valorem tax.

“The school is held harmless in this,” Sowell said. The provision “is optional for the county and cities. They don’t have to enact it.”

Patronis agreed, saying, “Typically we have had to do exemptions for educational ad valorem tax,” he said. “We are sensitive to upholding class size requirements.”

Patronis said he supported all of the amendments to the state’s constitution on the ballot.

“Any time you can save tax dollars, that should be a charge,” Patronis said. “There is a reality that when you create a tax break, you could be creating a special class of people, but we are probably more along the lines of doing the right thing than trying to reinvent the tax code of Florida.”